Tag Archives: paperback

Hello again, I can’t believe that my last post on here, and on my other blogs, was approximately one year ago. I had intended to take a break from blogging for a couple of months in order to work on the sequel to The Sleighriders, but somehow I haven’t got an awful lot done, and on top of that I never restarted any blogging again.

A number of things happened this year mostly due to birthdays. It was my 70th, my hubby’s 60th, and my son’s 40th. Mine was in February and I have to say was probably the best birthday I ever had, starting with a brand new motorbike, a stealth black Ducati Monster 821. I rode it back from the dealer on my birthday, in the rain, but that didn’t dampen my spirits one bit. It really is a fabulous bike; light, manoeuvrable, fast, and has that wonderful Ducati sound that only bikers recognise. I reckon it will keep me young!

In March my lovely son treated me to the most memorable holiday of my life on the Isle of Skye on the west coast of Scotland, an incredible week staying in a beautiful old hunting lodge on the side of a loch. Michelin star meals! We toured around Skye which is utterly beautiful with its Cuillin Mountains and rugged coastline.

In May I flew to Calgary for two weeks and visited my wonderful Irish friend, Joan, who I’ve known for fifty years, and then on to Kaslo in British Columbia to visit my other equally wonderful friend Joyce who I met in Calgary in 1971. Wonderful times just spending time together, drinking coffee and catching up.

The summer drifted by here in France with a lot of biking, visitors, relaxing and doing everyday things. And I never wrote a darned thing, nor did I do any photography. Now a year has slipped by and it’s nearly Christmas again and I’ve done no promotion of my books, something I find really hard, but should of course have at least been trying to get The Sleighriders out there since it’s a Christmas story. Must do better. Anyway at least I’ve now written a post, and I want to try and continue with some regular blogging from now on.

Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year to all of my lovely followers, have a marvellous 2019.

And if you fancy a really fantastic Christmas novel have a look at The Sleighriders – on Amazon on Kindle and in paperback!

Today I started! That is, I started to finish No Way Back (working title) the sequel to The Sleighriders – my fantasy novel. When I dragged up my old file I saw that I’d last worked on it in March 2010, and had about 11,000 words written. I really have no idea why it’s taken me so long to return to it. The skeleton story plan is kind of worked out, but now I’ll be looking to write another 80 or 90 thousand words or so.

Blimey, the wheels of writing turned so slowly this morning, as though the brakes were stuck on. Those first few sentences were like walking through treacle. I soon realised I had to ‘be there’ again, in the setting of The Sleighriders, hearing the characters, and seeing them again, being back in the atmosphere. Then of course there are new characters to think about, and a new path through a new book. It’s exciting!

I’ve put a hold on my other blogs until next spring in order to concentrate on the new book. The only other thing to accomplish this year was to publish The Sleighriders in paperback. I’ve just had my files accepted by Createspace and my proof is winging its way to me as we speak. It should be here on or about November 10th – just in time to try and promote for Christmas which is ideal because it’s a Christmas story.

I was so pleased last week when I had emails pop up to say I had sold some more books, both in the EU and the UK! A Red Waterproof Jacket and The Mouse and the Microlight. The greatest fun is always the writing, the hardest part for me is promotion, and the icing on the cake is when I see I’ve sold some. It’s kind of a proud moment every time.

At the end of November I’ll be publishing The Sleighriders in paperback, it’s a full length fantasy novel with a Christmas theme.

While I’m here, a big thank you to everyone who has kindly followed my blog, bought my books, and left likes and comments on my posts, it’s really appreciated!

Some friends of ours recently bought The Mouse and the Microlight for their Grandson, Corban, who is eight. A big thank you to you Corban for taking time to write this great review!

‘I liked it when Mouse Four left home and how he got his name. Also the chapter where he first flew and the last chapter when he jumped out of the microlight and landed in front of his family. We read the book over several weeks when I visited Grandads house. I found it a very exciting story and each time we finished a chapter, I would try and guess what was going to happen next. I also enjoyed looking at the pictures and enlarging them to see Mouse Four. Thank you.’

I am just so thrilled! The proof for A Red Waterproof Jacket arrived yesterday! I published it as an e-book a few years ago but this year decided to go for paperback with CreateSpace for all my books. The proof looks so good. I love the way the cover has come out. I obviously got my design pretty much spot on. It really does look professional. I was sitting here staring at it and thinking ‘It looks like a real book!’ Then I thought ‘Stupid! It is a real book!’

In a nutshell I wrote this book to inspire anyone who feels stuck, who keeps telling them self ‘better the devil you know’, and to urge them to believe there can be another life. Maybe the best way to tell you a bit more about the book is to simply post the back cover blurb …

What if you were a woman of fifty-six, emotionally unable to disentangle yourself from a long-term bitter-sweet relationship with no future? Too often you find yourself staring out of the window across the fens dreaming of new horizons. Depression shadows you. What do you have? A dull, routine job and a motorbike.

Change was easy when you were young, when you set off to Canada aged twenty-two, heart full of hope, romance, and optimism. But now middle age and loss of confidence has withered hope. Relationships have never worked out; always an imbalance. You decided some time ago that better the devil you know was the safest route. Besides, the very thought of a new relationship is tiring.

But what if out of the blue a man walked into your life? A man with a motorbike. A man ten years younger than you, who couldn’t possibly find you attractive. Could he? He wants to meet for coffee. You’re scared to death. He’s attractive. He wants you to go to Spain with him. Would you dare? Could you dump your job, sell your house, and risk running off into the sunset once more, with man you’ve known for a little over a week?

My Stowaways proof has arrived from CreateSpace! The second book I can be thrilled to put on my bookshelf with a sense of pride. There was one error in the book – a new chapter that I had somehow not started on a new page, and a picture that needed to be lightened. The edit took a few minutes to update and I re-submitted the file. Twenty-four hours later it was done and approved. I’m now happy to say The Stowaways is live on Amazon.

It’s been a long, and fun journey with the two books about Mouse Formidable, which started out as a blog where I posted a chapter a week. It was a great way to write because it started as pure fun and there was no pressure. After I published both books as e-Books on AmazonKindle I discovered early this year that I could publish in paperback with CreateSpace with no up-front costs to myself. It seemed like a great idea and so I set off on another journey with rather a large learning curve attached. It’s certainly been worth it.

If anyone is thinking of publishing with CreateSpace and has any questions I’d be glad to help if I can.

I’m excited. After many weeks of labouring and puzzling over document set-up for printing in book form – all new word-processing stuff for me – I was ready to send (electronically) my manuscript and book cover for The Mouse and the Microlight to Createspace. They check it and make sure all requirements are correct and let you know within twenty-four hours. I heaved a huge sigh when mine was accepted.

I had a choice as to whether to proof read it online, or order a proof copy, or both. I did both. Proof reading online with Createspace’s reader really only showed me what it will look like as a book, you turn the pages as with a book, and because there were at least three illustrations per chapter I was keen to see how the layout looked. But I also wanted a hard-copy proof to see what the book actually feels like. And of course to put on my bookshelf!

The downside is that the proof comes from the U.S and takes a month to get here! It would seem everything gets faster in life except the mail service! An image immediately formed in my mind of an overworked, corpulent carrier pigeon with no GPS.

When the proof arrives, and if I’m happy with it, then I press the big red button and tell Createspace it can go live. This should happen about May 2nd. It will then be available on Amazon. In the meantime I’ve started the same process for The Stowaways, the sequel to The Mouse and the Microlight. I must say it’s a darned sight easier the second time around – although I still had a problem with page-numbering in LibreOffice! Next in line will be A Red Waterproof Jacket, my own story about following a dream, and lastly The Sleighriders.

If you have the time and the patience self-publishing your own book is a hugely rewarding journey!